1964…a Flop for
the Ages, and the End of an Era
The world came to New York in 1964.
New York hosted the World’s Fair in
Flushing, Queens. This was held to commemorate the 300th anniversary
of the founding of New York (New Amsterdam). Visitors were excited to view the
debut of the Ford Mustang, feast on Belgian Waffles, and marvel at the
Unisphere, depicting a shrinking globe due to growing technology.
They were also able to view baseball
up close and personal, at William A. Shea Stadium, which was built adjacent to Flushing
Meadows Park, the host site for the World’s Fair.
Shea Stadium was home to the New York Mets baseball team, which had left it’s first living place at the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan, for the greener grass of the suburbs in Queens. They brought with them the younger, newer generation of New York baseball fans, who followed their ’loveable losers’ to the Willets Point station on the IRT 7 line.
The Polo Grounds were demolished,
ironically and symbolically using the same wrecking ball that was used to demolish
Ebbets Field in Brooklyn a few years earlier. There is now a housing project on
the site, the Polo Ground Towers. The only remnant from the old stadium is the
John T. Brush Stairway, which was dedicated to the former owner who passed in
1913. The steps climbed Coogan’s Bluff to a ticket window, but also offered a
view into the stadium.
The Mets, now in their third season of
existence, had not faired will in their inaugural season (losing 120 games) or
its sophomore season (losing 111 games). They were cautiously optimistic about
the upcoming 1964 season. With septuagenarian Casey Stengel at the helm, the
youth movement was still a year or two away. They would finish 1964 with an
improvement, but still lost 109 games.
To their north, the New York Yankees
were winning pennants in the Bronx. Riding a four-season streak of American
League pennants, including 2 World Championships in the previous four seasons,
and were primed to continue that pennant streak.
But the spectacle of seeing Mickey
Mantle, Whitey Ford, Roger Maris, and local slugger Joe Pepitone couldn’t match
the spectacle of the new modern stadium in Queens, with its state-of-the-art
scoreboard and other amenities. The lowly Mets would outdraw the Yankees in
1964 by over 400,000 fans.
And the stadium (and the Mets) hosted
baseball’s All-Star Game that year, were players like Mays, Mantle, Aaron,
Koufax, Oliva and others displayed their prowess. Included in the festivities
was National League starting second baseman Ron Hunt, who represented the
hometown Mets, and was the first Met to start in the All-Star Game.
Culturally, 1964 saw the British
Invasion, led by the Beatles making their American debut on the Ed Sullivan
Show. After taking both New York and he television airways ablaze, the Beatles
moved on to Miami for a show. While there, Olympic Gold Medal boxer Cassius
Clay was in training for a World Title bout with Sonny Liston. They clowned and
posed with Clay for several iconic publicity photos.
The Beatles moved on, but Clay faced
Liston at the end of February, and shocked the boxing world by defeating Liston
by a technical knockout after six rounds, with Liston not answering the call in
the seventh round. The young, handsome Clay would be that darling of the sports
world for just a few days, before announcing his controversial conversion to
the Muslim faith, and changing his name to Muhammed Ali.
After many trials and tribulations, which
included a refusal to enter the draft as a conscientious objector, and was
arrested and tried for that. He was stripped of his heavyweight championship
and went into a self-prescribed exile for several years, before re-entering the
ring, and becoming the Champion again.
(I realize I am just glossing over
this)
In May of 1964, Peru hosted the
Argentinian soccer team in an Olympic qualifying game.
Argentina held a 1-0 lead, when a
Peruvian goal was disallowed by the Uruguayan referee. The hometown loyalists
were enraged, and began their protests of the call by tossing seat cushions and
water bottles onto the field of play.
Police were called into action, and
shot tear gas cannisters into the northern end of the stadium, and fired their
guns into the air to keep the fans from storming the field. Many of the fans
then fled into the depths of the stadium to escape the tear gas, only to find
the roll up exit gates closed, as they would be during a game.
As the crowd fled, they were unaware
that those gates were closed, and the multitude kept pushing forward until
those gates finally gave way. But in the aftermath, over 300 fans were killed,
most dying of asphyxiation and internal bleeding from being crushed alive.
(As of this writing, the nation of
Peru still has not begun an official investigation into the incident)
But on to the much tamer baseball
world.
1964 is known for one of the
all-time collapses by one team.
The Philadelphia Phillies were led
by manager Gene Mauch. He took over the team two games into the 1960 season,
and finished last in the National League. In 1961, the team embarked on a
record twenty-three game losing streak, on its way to losing 107 games. In
1962, however, they showed marked improvement, and finished one game over .500,
in seventh place. More improvement in 1963 gave them a fourth-place finish,
eight games over .500.
1964 brough the Phillies the
recognition they were craving. Playing excellent baseball, they held a six and
a half game lead over the Cardinals and Reds with twelve games left in the
season.
In hindsight, many question Mauch’s
handling of his starting pitchers. He used his two bast pitchers, Chris Short
and Jim Bunning on very short rest in the last two weeks of the season. They
proceeded to lose three-straight against the Reds, and then four-straight
against the Braves. All of those games at home. At the conclusion of that
brutal stretch, the team was now 1 game behind.
Then they traveled to St. Louis,
where they lost three-straight to the Cardinals. They were outscored in those
ten games by 31 runs (61-30). At that point, the Cardinals held a one game lead
over the Reds, and a two and a half game lead over the Phillies. But the
Phillies still had a chance. They had to win their last two games against the
Reds, and then rely on the Mets to take their last three against the Cardinals.
At the start of play on October 3rd,
there were four teams with a mathematical chance to win the pennant, the Reds,
Phillies, Cardinals and Giants.
The Cardinals were helmed by Johnny
Keane, in his fourth year in St. Louis. He had a long minor league managerial
career. Over thirteen years, his teams finished a total of 70 games over .500.
He took over in St. Louis in 1961, replacing Solly Hemus in mid-season, and
finishing in fifth place.
1962 brought a disappointing sixth place finish, and 1963 found the Cardinals finishing in second place, behind the pitching heavy Los Angeles Dodgers. 1964 was supposed to be their year.
But the Phillies shot out to an
early lead, and the Cardinals were playing catch-up throughout the season.
Rumors and speculations through the front-office and then in the press led
Keane to believe that his job was on the line. One bright spot was the trade by
General Manager Bing Devine, sending starting pitcher Ernie Broglio to the Cubs
in return for speedster Lou Brock. When Devine asked Keane about what he
thought of the prospective trade, he replied, “What are you waiting for?”
(That trade is often mentioned as
one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history.)
But, with the Cardinals still
several games out of first place in mid-August, owner August Busch asked for
Devine’s resignation. At the behest of the Cardinal’s consultant Branch Rickey.
Bob Howsam was named as Devine’s replacement. Keane saw his writing on the wall
at that point, and conferred with his wife. He had his end game in place.
Rickey was pushing to replace Keane with Leo Durocher.
Meanwhile, the Mets were up to the
challenge, beating Bob Gibson 1-0 in the first game of a three-game set. Then
busting out for a 15-5 win over Ray Sadecki, setting up for a tense final game
between these two.
With the mathematicians, league
officials and oddsmakers calculating the possibilities of a three-way tie,
along with tie-breakers and scheduling additional games, the Phillies had the
slightest glimmer of hope.
But the Mets, being the Mets, faltered.
Curt Simmons, Bob Gibson (on 1 day rest) and Barney Shultz outlasted the Mets
to gain an 11-5 pennant clinching victory.
They were World Series bound for the
tenth time in their history, but for the first time in eighteen years.
In the American League, while the
New York Yankees had won the last four pennants, this one was not such an easy
road for them. They moved into first place for good on September 19, they didn’t
exactly run away with the flag. In fact, they also went into the last weekend
of play not having clinched the pennant. But they did outlast the Chicago White
Sox to finish one game ahead, even after losing four of their final eight
games.
The Yankees were guided by the legendary
Yogi Berra, who replaced Ralph Houk, who won three pennants in his first three
years as the Yankees skipper, with two World Series titles. Houk was moved
upstairs to General Manager, replacing Roy Hamey, who retired after the 1963
season.
Berra, who had become a part time player for the Yankees the previous two seasons, was well respected player. His ten World Series championships as a player is still the record. But there were some concerns that the front office had about Yogi. Namely, they weren’t sure he was the same type of disciplinarian that Houk was, and that Berra might ‘lose control’ of the clubhouse.
There was a legendary incident with
infielder Phil Linz playing a harmonica on a team flight after a Yankees loss,
and Berra told him to quit. Linz didn’t hear what Yogi had said, and Mickey
Mantle quipped “He wants you to play it louder”, which Linz did. Enraged, Yogi
confronted Linz and slapped the harmonica out of his hand. Linz was later fined
$200 for this infraction.
As I stated, the Yankees would hold
on to win the pennant, where they would face the Cardinals in the World Series
for the fifth time.
The Cardinals would win the Series
in seven games.
After the seventh game, the Cardinals
held a press conference, supposedly to announce a new contract for World
Champion Johnny Keane. But Keane instead presented his resignation to Howsam and
Busch. The Cardinals would scramble to replace Keane, bypassing Durocher, who
played for the Cardinals, opting for Red Schoendienst, a popular player in St.
Louis.
In the Bronx, the Yankees relieved
Yogi Berra of his duties, and reassigned him. Berra was confused and embarrassed.
He assumed that his winning the pennant made his case for his managerial
prowess, but the Yankees differed. They opted for a proven winner.
They announced their new manager to
be Johnny Keane. The first time a manager was hired by a team that he had just
beaten in the World Series.
Meanwhile Yogi, asked for his
release as a player, and for the first time in his lengthy career, he wore a
different uniform, he signed to play for the New York Mets, under his old
manager Casey Stengel.
For the Yankees organization, this would be the end of an incredibly successful run of fourteen World Series appearances in sixteen years, and it would be another twelve years (and two ownership changes) until their next visit in 1976.
In November of 1964, the Yankees
owners, Dan Topping and Del Webb agreed to sell the franchise to CBS for 11
million dollars. This began the slow decline of the franchise until it was
purchased in 1973 by a group led by George Steinbrenner.
Getting back to the 1964 baseball season, let’s look at how the teams fared during the year. The top pitching teams in each league were:
|
National
League |
American
League |
|
Cincinnati
Reds |
Chicago
White Sox |
|
Philadelphia
Phillies |
New
York Yankees |
|
San
Francisco Giants |
Baltimore
Orioles |
And the top offenses were:
Milwaukee Braves | New York Yankees | ||||
St. Louis Cardinals | Minnesota Twins | ||||
Philadelphia
| Cleveland Indians |
White Sox | 2nd in American League 1 game behind |
Yankees | American League Champions |
Orioles | 3rd in American League 2 games behind |
Cardinals | World Series Champions |
Phillies | Tied for 2nd in National League 1 game behind |
The season started on a down note, as the Chicago Cubs young second baseman Ken Hubbs was killed in an off-season plane crash. Hubbs is the first rookie to win a Gold Glove, which he did in 1962, along with winning the Rookie of the Year Award.
Hubbs had a fear of flying, which he
decided to overcome by taking flying lessons. He soon bought his own plane, and
was trying to outrun a snowstorm in Provo, Utah when his plane went down.
In January, Kansas City Athletics controversial owner Charles Finley signed a two-year deal to move his team to Louisville, Kentucky. American League owners voted 9-1 against the move, and further ordered Finley to sign a lease to stay in Kansas City, or forfeit the franchise. Finley did acquiesce, but would eventually move the franchise to Oakland.
Finley also ‘poked the bear’
somewhat by designing a new ‘Pennant Porch’ in right field, claiming that the
short right field dimensions in Yankee Stadium gave the team an unfair
advantage, so he decided to do the same. He built a fence that had the same
dimensions as the Yankees, 298 feet from home plate. But this was a violation
of a rule set in 1958, stating that no fence could be closer than 325 feet,
apart from those already in use.
After two exhibition games, the team
was forced to remove the addition.
During the season, A’s slugger Rocky
Colavito hit his 300th career homer. In the run-up to that event,
Finley had Brink’s guards on standby to present Colavito with 300 silver
dollars.
Later that season, Seattle mayor
James d’Orman Braman announced a plan to lure the Cleveland Indians to Seattle.
It didn’t work, but Seattle was awarded an expansion franchise in the next
round of growth. (And then again in the next expansion as well)
The Milwaukee Braves signed a 25-year
lease on Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium, and would begin play there for the
1966 season.
And the Houston baseball club, the
Colt .45’s was sued by the Colt Firearm Company, and were forced to change
their name. This worked out well for them, as in 1965 they would become the
Astros, and play on the Astrodome, which featured AstroTurf.
The original name of the first domed
stadium was the clunky Harris County Domed Stadium.
Around the league:
For the second time in history,
there were two rookies that each made 200 hits. Tony Oliva of the Twins, and
Richie Allen of the Phillies. It had been done in 1929, when there were three
players Dale Alexnder and Roy Johnson, both of the Tigers, and Johnny Frederick
of the Dodgers.
And it would be done just once more,
in 2001 by Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners and Juan Pierre of the Rockies.
For just the second time in the
National League, a player had 200 hits and 100 strikeouts. Actually, there were
two. Richie Allen of the Phillies, and Lou Brock of the Cubs & Cardinals.
Brock’s Cardinals teammate Bill White was the first to accomplish this feat,
doing so in 1963.
And rookies Tony Oliva of the Twins
and Jim Ray Hart of the Giants, became the 9th and 10th
rookies to reach 30 homers in their inaugural season.
At the start of the season, there
were just four players who had reached the 500-home run mark. Babe Ruth, Jimmie
Foxx, Mel Ott and Ted Williams. None of them was active.
And there was just one pitcher who had reached
3,000 strikeouts, Walter Johnson.
Baltimore Orioles shortstop Luis
Aparicio leads the league in stolen bases for an unprecedented 9th
consecutive season.
Orioles’ pitcher Frank Bertaina faced
Athletics pitcher Bob Meyer in a game where they each pitched a one-hitter.
Baltimore won 1-0, and they set the record of the lowest number of at-bats in a
nine-inning game, with 18.
Giant’s pitcher Ron Herbel went
hitless in 1964. He went 47 at-bats without a hit, dating back to October of
1962. And they also signed the first Japanese born player to appear in the
majors, Masanori Murakami, who appeared in nine games for the team in 1964, and
forty-five games in 1965.
Athletics’ first-baseman Ken Harrelson,
who had thoughts of becoming a professional golfer, spent a day off at the
course. His hands were feeling a little raw, so he wore his golf gloves during the
next game. There was no rule forbidding it, and other players soon followed suit.
The very first ever pay-per-view gam happened in July, where the game between the Cubs and Dodgers was telecast to ‘subscribers.
Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers
incredibly made the only Opening Day start of his career in April. In June, he
pitched his National League record third no-hitter. He joined Bob Feller as the
only other pitcher to pitch three no-hitters in the twentieth century. Koufax
still to this day holds the record in the National League for most career
no-hitters with four. (The fourth pitched in 1965)
Jim Bunning of the Phillies pitched the first recorded National League perfect game of the modern era, defeating the Mets on Father’s Day at Shea. The future Congressman became the first pitcher to have tossed a no-hitter in each league, and his batterymate Gus Triandos was the first to catch a no hitter in each league. And, it was the first perfect game in the National League in the twentieth century
Cleveland Indian rookie pitcher Luis Tiant made his debut against the Yankees, and performed very well. He beat the Yankees and Whitey Ford by a 3-0 score. Tiant pitched a four-hitter, all singles and struck out 11 batters in the process.
Tiger’s rookie Bill Roman hit a home run in his first major league at-bat, an accomplishment which will never really be bettered. However, it is the only home run of his career, the 4th American Leaguer to do this.
Rookie Tony Oliva of the Twins became the first American League rookie to lead the league in hitting.
Another rookie, Bert Campaneris of the Athletics became the second player to hit two homers in his debut game, joining Bob Nieman, who did it in 1951.
And one more rookie, Mel Stottlemyre of the Yankees pitched a two-hit shutout over the Washington Senators. Stottlemyre became the eighth (and probably last) pitcher to get 5 hits in a game. He allowed only two. He finished 1964 with a very respectable .243 batting average.
It was a good year for rookies.
On September 13th, the
Cardinals defeated the Cubs 15-2. St. Louis scored at least one run in every
inning, the first National League to accomplish this since 1923.
Cleveland’s max Alvis contracted
spinal meningitis and lost six weeks of the season. With his bat in the
line-up, the Indians may have fared better than their sixth-place finish.
Pirates’ bullpen ace Al McBean took the loss in a game on August, 16th. It was hirst first loss in 62 straight appearances, dating back to July, 1963.
Red Sox slugger Tony Conigliaro remains the last teenager to hit a grand slam home run in a major league game, and the eighth overall.
Minnesota Twins infielder Zoilo Versalles led the American League in both doubles and triples. That had only been done six times prior.
After the season, Cincinnati Reds manager Fred Hutchinson succumbed to cancer. He was initially diagnosed in late 1963, after noticing a lump in his neck. He was found to have malignant tumors in his neck, chest and lungs. His prognosis was not good. The Reds made his illness public in January.
He was in relatively good health when Spring Training time came, after a radiation treatment in February, and was at the helm of the Reds through the 27th of July, when he was hospitalized in Cincinnati for a short time. He returned to the bench on August 4th, but barely lasted a week before he needed to be re-hospitalized.
The Reds seemed to rally around
their stricken manager, most aware of his very grim prognosis, and were very
competitive in the last weeks of the season. They won 29 of their final 47
games, and owing to the collapse of the Phillies, finished in a second-place
tie at the end of the year.
Frederick Charles Hutchinson passed
away on November 12, 1964, three weeks after resigning as the manager of the
Reds.
But his legacy does not end there.
Far from it.
He was inducted into the Cincinnati
Reds Hall of Fame in 1965, and his uniform number,1, was retired by the team.
He won the SPORT Magazine sportsman of the year award for 1964, for his
courage and dignity in which he faced his final battle.
Each year, Major League Baseball
handed out the Hutch Award, which recognizes players who ‘exemplify the
fighting spirit and competitive desire’ of the award’s namesake. Some of the
recipients of the award, first presented in 1965, include Mickey Mantle, Sandy
Koufax, Al Kaline, Willie McCovey, Willie Stargell, John Olerud and Dave
Dravecky. The award has not been given out since 2019, save for an honorary
award given to Anthony Fauci in 2022.
But still there is more to his legacy.
The Pacific Northwest Research
Foundation was founded in 1956 by Dr. William Hutchinson. The foundation was
built to research and study cancer, heart surgery and endocrine diseases. Dr.
Hutchinson’s younger brother was Fred Hutchinson, and he decided to honor his
brother by renaming the foundation in their native Seattle in his name.
The Hutch Center is a leading
facility for treatment in the United States. Personally, I had a very good
friend who traveled form Tennessee to Seattle to be treated for cancer. Also,
on every row of seats at what is now T-Mobile Park there is a relief of Fred
Hutchinson winding up to pitch. With some artistic license with shows Hutch
pitching either right or left-handed, either way he is always pitching towards
the field.
For more information on the Hutchinson Center...Fred Hutchinson Center
The Los Angeles Angels signed bonus-baby Rick Reichardt from the University of Wisconsin, the highest bonus given at the time. This particular signing is the impetus for major league baseball to institute a Free Agent Draft, which would take place the following June. Originally, there were to be three separate drafts, which through time has winnowed down to just the one.
And the draft order was determined
by the team’s results from the previous season. In the first draft, the Kansas
City Athletics drafted outfielder Rick Monday from Arizona State University.
The first future Hall of Famer drafted that year was Johnny Bench, in the
second round.
As an aside, one of my reference materials is the Sporting News Baseball Guide for 1065, which covers the 1964 season. One of the articles shows the American Legion Champions for ’64, which was Post #73 representing Upland, California. I only bring this up because Roland (Rollie) Fingers was a member of the team, picture and all. (just not a clear picture, sorry)
In the minors that season, The Sporting News named AAA All-Star teams. Some players of note were Tommie Aaron from Denver, and Horace Clarke of Richmond.
The leagues themselves selected
players as well, and some of the names of note for AAA are Mel Stottleymyre, Tony
Perez, Rusty Staub and Luis Tiant. In AA ball, there was Bert Campaneris, Paul
Blair, Lee May and Joe Morgan.
And there were two Collegiate
Leagues of note, the Central Illinois League, featuring Doug Rader, Ken Holzman
and Joe Niekro. And the Basin League, which featured Don Sutton, Merv Rettenmund
and Chuck Dobson.
In the minor leagues, pitcher Mike
Kekich of the Ft. Lauderdale Yankees struck out 11 consecutive batters against
the Miami Marlins, tying the record set by the legendary Ron Necciai of the
Bristol Twins in 1952. Necciai, then twenty years old pitched in six games for
the Pirates Appalachian League affiliate. He went 4-0 for the club, with an ERA
of 0.42. He struck out 109 batters in just 43 innings, an average of over 2½ per
inning. He did strikeout 27 batters in a nine-inning game at Bristol, a feat
that has yet to be duplicated in any level of organized ball.
Necciai would eventually make it to
Pittsburgh to pitch for the Pirates, but his performance was somewhat
underwhelming. Some believe that Necciai was the inspiration for Calvin Ebby “Nuke”
LaLoosh in the movie “Bull Durham”
Getting back to Mike Kekich, though.
While the Yankees won, Kekich did not get the decision.
Other minor league leaders were:
Home
Runs 40 Charles Harrison San
Antonio Bullets Astros affiliate
40 Ollie Brown Fresno Giants Giants
affiliate
Runs
Batted In 134 Danny Napoleon Auburn
Mets Mets affiliate
Stolen
Bases 75 Willie Mobley Ft.
Lauderdale Yankees affiliate
Strikeouts 321 Ed
Barnowski Stockton Ports Orioles affiliate
E.R.A. 1.38 James Smith Ft.
Lauderdale Yankees affiliate
In the Mexican League, the legendary
Hector Espino of the Monterrey Sultans hit 46 homes, drove in 117 runs, and
batted a robust .371. Only George Prescott of the Poza Rica Oil Tankers (yes,
really), who drove in 123 runs kept Espino from the Triple Crown. His 46
dingers set a new Mexican League record.
Espino, who is a member of the
Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame, has been called the Mexican Babe Ruth. He played
for twenty-five years, and hit 483 home runs, which is recognized as the minor
league home run record. He never did get to the major leagues, though.
And on to the individual
performances, our initial top performing National League pitchers were:
|
Pitcher |
Team |
W-L |
ERA
|
Sv |
|
Sandy
Koufax |
Dodgers |
19-5 |
1.74 |
1 |
|
Juan
Marichal |
Giants |
21-8 |
2.48 |
0 |
|
Jim
O’Toole |
Reds |
17-7 |
2.66 |
0 |
|
Don
Drysdale |
Dodgers |
18-16 |
2.18 |
0 |
|
Chris
Short |
Phillies |
17-9 |
2.20 |
2 |
|
Larry
Jackson |
Cubs |
24-11 |
3.14 |
0 |
|
Bill
Henry |
Reds |
2-2 |
0.87 |
6 |
|
Jim
Bunning |
Phillies |
19-8 |
2.63 |
2 |
|
#Barney
Schultz |
Cardinals |
1-3 |
1.64 |
14 |
|
Tony
Cloninger |
Braves |
19-14 |
3.56 |
2 |
|
Jim
Maloney |
Reds |
15-10 |
2.71 |
0 |
# Barney Schultz was called up from
AAA after the midway point of the season, and wouldn’t qualify for this list
under normal circumstances, but due to the fact that he garnered some
post-season votes, I have included him here.
And that is not a typo for Bill
Henry. Yes, he finished with an Earned Run Average below 1.00. As a reliever,
he gave up just 5 earned runs in 52 innings, spread over 35 games.
Now to see the top pitchers against
their team’s overall performances, we get:
|
Larry
Jackson |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Sandy
Koufax |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Juan
Marichal |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Tony
Cloninger |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Bob
Buhl |
Cubs |
15-14 |
3.83 |
0 |
|
Al
McBean |
Pirates |
8-3 |
1.91 |
21 |
|
Bob
Bruce |
Houston |
15-9 |
2.76 |
0 |
|
Don
Drysdale |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Bob
Veale |
Pirates |
18-12 |
2.74 |
0 |
|
Tracy
Stallard |
Mets |
10-20 |
3.79 |
0 |
Then combing, analyzing and
crunching, we get this ultimate top ten list, with post-season awards voting
results. Note, there was only one Cy Young Award given this year.
|
Sandy
Koufax |
3rd
in Cy Young vote, 17th in MVP |
|
Juan
Marichal |
15th
in MVP vote |
|
Larry
Jackson |
2nd
in Cy Young vote, 12th in MVP |
|
Don
Drysdale |
No votes |
|
Jim
O’Toole |
No votes |
|
Chris
Short |
23rd
in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Tony
Cloninger |
No votes |
|
Jim
Bunning |
13th
in MVP vote |
|
Al
McBean |
No votes |
|
Bill
Henry |
No
votes |
Switching now to the American
League, our initial list of top pitchers is:
|
#Mel
Stottlemyre |
Yankees |
9-3 |
2.06 |
0 |
|
Dean
Chance |
Angels |
20-9 |
1.65 |
4 |
|
Wally
Bunker |
Orioles |
19-5 |
2.69 |
0 |
|
Juan
Pizarro |
White
Sox |
19-9 |
2.56 |
0 |
|
Joel
Horlen |
White
Sox |
13-9 |
1.88 |
0 |
|
Gary
Peters |
White
Sox |
20-8 |
2.50 |
0 |
|
Whitey
Ford |
Yankees |
17-6 |
2.13 |
1 |
|
Al
Worthington |
Twins |
5-6 |
1.37 |
14 |
|
Luis
Tiant |
Indians |
10-4 |
2.83 |
1 |
|
Hoyt
Wilhelm |
White
Sox |
12-9 |
1.99 |
27 |
|
Dick
Hall |
Orioles |
9-1 |
1.85 |
9 |
# Mel Stottlemyre, like Barney Schultz
above, was a mid-season call up for the Yankees. And while he wouldn’t qualify
for league ERA title because he only pitched in 13 games, 96 innings, his
performance made a difference in helping the Yankees win the pennant. And he
did garner some post-season votes.
Al Worthington was purchased by the
Twins from the Reds in late June, and these statistics are just from his time
with the Twins.
Dean Chance had a season for the
ages in 1964, but is often overlooked for the 1964 season, and I’m not sure
why. Perhaps playing in Los Angeles, where the pitching headlines were
dominated by Koufax and Drysdale played some part in it.
1964 was the fourth season in the
big leagues, and at twenty-three years old, had a bright future ahead of him.
His 1964 season included a team record 11 shutouts, incredibly 5 of those were
1-0 wins. His 1.65 Earned Run Average is also the team record. He was, at the
time, the youngest pitcher to win a Cy Young Award.
He did have some control issues, and
had a tendency to get wild. In 1965 and 1966, he walked over 100 batters in
each season, leading the league once. He was traded to Minnesota, where he won
twenty games for the second time in his career. Unfortunately, it was not a long
career, as he played for just 10 major league seasons.
He was elected to the Angels Hall of
Fame.
Getting
back to the 1964 season now, looking at the pitcher performances against their
team’s averages, we have this top ten list:
|
Wes
Stock |
Athletics |
8-3 |
2.30 |
5 |
|
Dick
Radatz |
Red
Sox |
16-9 |
2.29 |
29 |
|
Luis
Tiant |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Al
Worthington |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Mel
Stottlemyre |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Dean
Chance |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Wally
Bunker |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Mudcat
Grant |
Twins |
14-13 |
3.67 |
1 |
|
Ron
Kline |
Senators |
10-7 |
2.32 |
14 |
|
Jim
Kaat |
Twins |
17-11 |
3.22 |
0 |
And that brings our top overall AL
pitchers, with post-season voting, to have been:
|
Dean
Chance |
Cy
Young Award, 5th in MVP vote |
|
Mel
Stottlemyre |
25th
in MVP vote |
|
Wally
Bunker |
2nd
in Rookie of the Year,12th in MVP |
|
Dick
Radatz |
9th
in MVP vote |
|
Al
Worthington |
No votes |
|
Luis
Tiant |
No votes |
|
Juan
Pizarro |
19th
in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Joel
Horlen |
21st
in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Whitey
Ford |
21st
in MVP vote |
|
Gary
Peters |
7th
in MVP vote (tied) |
Now to take a look at the hitter’s
offensive performance, with the initial National League list as follows:
|
Batter |
Team |
HR |
RBI |
AVG |
RCG |
|
Joe
Torre |
Braves |
20 |
109 |
.321 |
1.14 |
|
Willie
Mays |
Giants |
47 |
111 |
.296 |
1.18 |
|
Hank
Aaron |
Braves |
24 |
95 |
.328 |
1.20 |
|
Richie
Allen |
Phillies |
29 |
21 |
.318 |
1.15 |
|
Ron
Santo |
Cubs |
30 |
114 |
.313 |
1.11 |
|
Ken
Boyer |
Cardinals |
24 |
119 |
.295 |
1.20 |
|
Frank
Robinson |
Reds |
29 |
96 |
.306 |
1.09 |
|
Lou
Brock |
Cubs/Cardinals |
14 |
58 |
.315 |
1.00 |
|
Rico
Carty |
Braves |
22 |
88 |
.330 |
1.04 |
|
Roberto
Clemente |
Pirates |
12 |
87 |
.339 |
1.10 |
It should be noted that Lou Brock
hit .348 with the Cardinals, after being traded over from the Cubs.
Now, compared to their teams, our
initial list is:
|
Willie
Mays |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Ron
Santo |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Frank
Robinson |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Walt
Bond |
Houston |
20 |
85 |
.254 |
0.86 |
|
Joe
Christopher |
Mets |
16 |
76 |
.300 |
0.90 |
|
Richie
Allen |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Orlando
Cepeda |
Giants |
31 |
97 |
.304 |
0.99 |
|
Billy
Williams |
Cubs |
33 |
98 |
.312 |
1.02 |
|
Roberto
Clemente |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Ken
Boyer |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Ken Boyer of the Cardinals was voted
the NL Most Valuable Player by the sportswriters. He was the leader of the
Cardinals team that persevered to reach, and subsequently win the World Series.
But this is the results that I came up with, my top ten:
|
Willie
Mays |
6th
in MVP vote |
|
Joe
Torre |
5th
in MVP vote |
|
Ron
Santo |
8th
in MVP vote |
|
Richie
Allen |
NL
Rookie of the Year, 7th in MVP vote |
|
Frank
Robinson |
4th
in MVP vote |
|
Ken
Boyer |
National
League MVP |
|
Hank
Aaron |
14th
in MVP vote |
|
Lou
Brock |
10th
in MVP vote |
|
Roberto
Clemente |
9th
in MVP vote |
|
Billy
Williams |
15th
in MVP vote |
And on to the American League, our
initial top offensive performers were:
|
Mickey
Mantle |
Yankees |
35 |
111 |
.303 |
1.17 |
|
Boog
Powell |
Orioles |
39 |
99 |
.290 |
1.00 |
|
Tony
Oliva |
Twins |
32 |
94 |
.323 |
1.06 |
|
Brooks
Robinson |
Orioles |
28 |
118 |
.317 |
1.06 |
|
Bob
Allison |
Twins |
32 |
86 |
.287 |
0.97 |
|
Harmon
Killebrew |
Twins |
49 |
111 |
.270 |
0.99 |
|
Bill
Freehan |
Tigers |
18 |
80 |
.300 |
0.91 |
|
Elston
Howard |
Yankees |
15 |
84 |
.313 |
0.88 |
|
Rocky
Colavito |
A’s |
34 |
102 |
.274 |
1.00 |
|
Dick
Stuart |
Red
Sox |
33 |
114 |
.279 |
0.99 |
And against their teams, we get this
list:
|
Jim
Fregosi |
Angels |
18 |
72 |
.277 |
0.95 |
|
Mickey
Mantle |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Rocky
Colavito |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Boog
Powell |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Brooks
Robinson |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Don
Lock |
Senators |
28 |
80 |
.248 |
0.82 |
|
Tony
Oliva |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Chuck
Hinton |
Senators |
11 |
53 |
.274 |
0.82 |
|
Bill
Freehan |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Jim
Gentile |
A’s |
28 |
71 |
.251 |
0.84 |
Bringing our top ten American League
hitters list to this:
|
Mickey
Mantle |
2nd
in MVP vote |
|
Boog
Powell |
11th
in MVP vote |
|
Brooks
Robinson |
American
League MVP |
|
Tony
Oliva |
AL
Rookie of the Year, 4th in MVP vote |
|
Rocky
Colavito |
28th
in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Jim
Fregosi |
13th
in MVP vote |
|
Bob
Allison |
23rd
in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Harmon
Killebrew |
10th
in MVP vote |
|
Bill
Freehan |
7th
in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Elston
Howard |
3rd
in MVP vote |
So, after analyzing the final numbers,
charts and formulas, the leaders in each league are:
National
League
Sandy
Koufax
NL
Player of the Year
Willie
Mays
NL Offensive Player of the Year
Joe
Torre
Ron
Santo
Juan
Marichal
American
League
Dean
Chance
AL Player of the Year
Mel
Stottlemyre
Mickey
Mantle
AL Offensive Player of the Year
Wally
Bunker
Boog
Powell
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